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TRP: Goro, Jonn, and Roddy (Scammed)
'''Abby: '''at 11:01 AM Day 222. At the inn in Sienna Springs. The nerve. The nerve of that-- person. (Although Roddy really should have seen it coming. This was what people did-- it was something Roddy had done.) But still! He did not appreciate this at all! He stomped into the inn, just because if he hadn't walked off likely he would have got into a fight. Junior was curled around his shoulders, clinging tightly so he (she?) didn't fall off. Started to head up to his room, but as he walked by he spotted Goro, sitting in the corner eating lunch. Abruptly he changed direction, sitting down at Goro's table with a thunderous scowl on his face. "Do you know what just happened?" he demanded. '''Lina: '''at 11:03 AM Goro looked Roddy up and down. "Someone tried to rip you off?" he guessed. '''Abby: '''at 11:05 AM "Someone did rip me off!" Roddy corrected. '''Lina: '''at 11:06 AM "Oof." Goro cringed and shook his head a little, then took another bite of his stew. "Hey, you want some lunch, or something? This stuff's pretty good." '''Abby: '''at 11:11 AM "No! I got ripped off!" Roddy said, again. He leaned back in his chair, scowling at the wall. Junior nosed at Roddy's cheek, chirping. Roddy patted it and sighed, deflating. Wasn't like he could do anything about it now. "Okay yeah. Lunch sounds good." '''Lina: '''at 11:13 AM Goro snorted, but gently. He waved down the server and ordered another meal for Roddy. "Who ripped you off, anyway? You want me to go fuck 'em up?" '''Abby: '''at 11:15 AM "Depends. Do you mean stabbing or scamming?" '''Lina: '''at 11:15 AM Goro shrugged, grinning. "I'm versatile. Whatcha in the mood for? Nah, never mind, I can guess. Not stabbing." '''Abby: '''at 11:29 AM "You know me so well," Roddy said back, grinning now too. "Yep, scamming 'em back. Good plan. Ain't that right Junior?" he said, scratching the tiny dragon. After that, he shifted to dig in his haversack, pulling out a flute. "This was supposed to have that Counterspell imbued in it," Roddy complained. "There was a demonstration and everything! But soon as I was messing with it, it didn't even work as a flute." '''Lina: '''at 11:32 AM Goro frowned and held his hand out so he could take a look at the flute. '''Abby: '''at 11:40 AM Roddy gave it over. "See, those bits are supposed to be connected so those things lift up to make the different notes," Roddy explained. "But they're not. Half convinced it's just- spelled wood or something," Roddy trailed off, grumbling. '''Lina: '''at 11:48 AM Goro examined the thing--he didn't know shit about instruments, but Roddy obviously did, so he must've paid for it before getting a close look at it. In any case, Goro could tell the materials were cheap, and a quick spell of his own told him there was no magic imbued in it at all. He shook his head. "It's not even that. It's just a hunk of junk. Whoever was running the demonstration had some other way to make it look magic. How much did you pay for this?" '''Abby: '''at 11:52 AM "...Five hundred gold," Roddy mumbled, hunching his shoulders. '''Lina: '''at 11:54 AM Goro rested an elbow on the table and put his face in his hand, sighing. He passed the flute back. "Roddy. Roddy. Buddy. Pal. Can I possibly fucking interest you in some tips on how to know when people are bullshitting you? This is the most obvious fucking scam I've ever seen, and I wasn't even there." '''Abby: '''at 11:57 AM Roddy stashed it back in his sack, shifting a little. Yeah. He'd been... really dumb. He knew better! And still fell for it. "Well. Uh. I guess?" he said. "It would be useful." '''Lina: '''at 11:58 AM Goro let out a relieved sigh. He worried about this kid. "You ever heard the phrase 'if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is'?" '''Abby: '''at 12:00 PM "Yeah," Roddy said, nodding. "He- or, she, I dunno-- they just kept- talking. Kinda made me forget, for a bit. And by the time I remembered--" he gestured at his bag. "Too late." '''Lina: '''at 12:05 PM "Eh. Kid. We're talking an order of magnitude too good, here. You have any clue how much a flute that could actually cast Counterspell would cost you? Try five thousand gold. You gotta hold facts in your mind when you try to suss out people's intentions, alright?" Goro nodded a few times. "Bet they did just keep talking. Filling your mind with fluff to keep you from thinking. This is why I'm always telling you you gotta listen to your gut. There's no amount of talking, no amount of fake facts that should be able to distract you from from thinking, hey now, why am I being offered a ninety fucking percent discount on this thing?" '''Abby: '''at 12:11 PM That was about how it played out, yep. "And in this case I got a ninety percent discount cause it was a scam," Roddy said sourly. '''Lina: '''at 12:16 PM "Here. Let's... let's test some shit out." Goro thought for a moment. "I'm gonna tell you two facts about me. One'll be true, and one's a lie. I'm a really good fucking liar, Roddy. The tells people usually have--funny eye contact, or fidgeting hands, or tugging on their ear and shit--I've trained myself out of all that. So I can tell you both these things with a straight face, and you won't be able to tell the difference. But if you keep some facts in mind--things you know about me--I bet you can pick it out. Ready?" '''Abby: '''at 12:20 PM Well that sounded hard. Goro was a really good liar. But then again, if Roddy was going to practice at getting better on spotting lies- Goro was a good choice too. Least he could trust Goro to have his back. (And maybe he'd learn more about Goro in the process.) "Okay," he said, sitting up a little straighter. "Hit me," he said. '''Lina: '''at 12:24 PM "Alright. Let's see here." Goro sat back in his chair, crossing his arms, and scrutinizing Roddy. Considering what Roddy knew about him, or could have noticed by now, at least. "I'm not gonna start this off easy, 'cause I want you to fucking think. Okay, fact one: I strangled a guy once, with my bare hands, for threatening Amari. And fact two: I stabbed a guy through the hand once when I caught him trying to pickpocket me in a restaurant. Pinned it right to the table. There you go. Which one's the lie? Think hard. Think about details." '''Abby: '''at 12:32 PM "You're right you're not starting this off easy," Roddy said. That both sounded like things Goro'd do. Hm. Details though. Goro liked knives. But the bare hands... he wasn't a strong guy. Took a lot of muscle to strangle someone like that. (Dad could do it- aand Roddy did not like this line of thought. Nope.) "Uh. The- the strangling one?" he guessed. "You're more stabby than- strangly," he said, poking at Goro's arm. '''Lina: '''at 12:35 PM Goro broke into a grin and smacked his hand on the table. "Fuck yeah. You've got it. I've never strangled somebody in my life. I don't even like touching people. I healed that fucker's hand, by the way. I just made him pay me first." He snorted. '''Abby: '''at 12:42 PM "You don't? You're pretty clingy for someone who doesn't like touching people," Roddy commented. Just about every time he saw Goro and Dad together, they were practically attached at the hip. '''Lina: '''at 12:57 PM Goro almost asked Roddy what the hell he was talking about, but then it fucking occurred to him: Hansel. Clingy. Yeah. He couldn't sit still anymore, all the sudden. He brought one foot up on his chair and hugged his knee to his chest. Shifted around, rubbed at his forearm. "Uh. I meant--people in general. I like... I do like touching Hansel, and Mishka. Larkin and Amari are fine, too. And Ombre." And Theo, come to think of it. Goro hadn't had any problems picking her up and carrying her, giving her hugs, kissing her on the head. That was weird. Normally it took him a long fucking time to get that comfortable with someone. "It's..." None of your fucking business, he wanted to say, but Roddy hadn't known. He hadn't done anything to deserve Goro suddenly going full jackass on him. "Hard to explain." '''Abby: '''at 1:04 PM Huh. That got to him. Just two minutes ago Goro was explaining how he'd trained himself out of tells and then all... this. "Oh," Roddy said. Bit his lip and shifted a bit, shooting concerned glances at Goro. Had a feeling he should watch what he said, a bit better. "Do, uh, do you want to try to...?" '''Lina: '''at 4:20 PM "Uh. Hmm." Did he? "Nah. Maybe some other time." He rubbed his arm again and shifted forward in his seat, trying to get comfortable. "Anyway, another thing to think about, people with legitimate magical items to sell usually aren't peddling 'em with flashy demonstrations on the street. Any time a stranger's trying to get your attention, be suspicious. It's just a different kind of circus, you got that?" '''Abby: '''at 5:29 PM "Yeah- yeah I get that," Roddy said, somewhat distracted. Goro wanted to change the subject, but Roddy had one question he really wanted an answer to. "Look um. Should I back off the- hugs and stuff then?" he asked. "I didn't... mean to make you uncomfortable, or anything." He looked down at the table, picking at the edge. "Sorry," he added quietly. '''Lina: '''at 5:41 PM "Oh. Uh." Shit. It was... actually kind of fucking touching that Roddy felt bad, but Goro didn't want him to feel bad. "Nah, nah, it's fine. It's... hard for me, but I'm trying to get better at it. Hugging, and shit. With people I trust, anyway. I mean, the way I grew up..." Pff, he'd said he didn't want to try explaining, and now here he went. "Let me just say, when you're living by yourself on the street, getting touched is a bad thing. It's always people trying to hurt you or steal from you. Or, at fucking best, it's cuddling up with some stranger so the two of you don't freeze to death. Which has about a fifty-fifty chance of ending in someone getting stolen from or hurt anyway. So... that's why I hate it. But, uh." He picked at some dirt on his shoe, still resting on the seat of the chair. He'd forgotten the point he was trying to make. '''Abby: '''at 5:49 PM Ah, a trust thing. "I think I get it," Roddy said, nodding. "Thanks for uh. For explaining." Wanted to do something to make Goro feel better, but usually Roddy just hugged, and that... probably wasn't the best idea right now. He glanced at Junior though, sneaking bites out of Roddy's stew. Slowly nudged him at Goro-- maybe petting the dragon would help instead? "Hey, where were you with the whole-- how not to get scammed thing?" he asked. Move on, let Goro get back in his element. Maybe that'd help too. '''Lina: '''at 7:24 PM "Right. Uh." He rubbed the back of his head, thinking, and keeping an eye on the pseudodragon to make sure it wasn't going to steal his food. He scooted his bowl closer and took a bite. "Suspicion. That was the thing. You wanna get good at spotting lies, you have to always suspect lies. Unless it's someone you already know never tells them, like your dad." He drummed his fingers on the table. "Your problem is, your level is suspicion is always tied to how nice people are to you, or whatever. Bet whoever sold you that flute was real friendly. Made you feel good about yourself." '''Abby: '''at 8:13 PM Junior didn't attempt to steal, but gave a sad little trill and the most pitiful expression that a pseudodragon was capable of producing. "Yeeeeeesss," Roddy admitted. And he'd even helped on that end. Got a few brags in about things he'd done and turned around and got those used to inflate his ego even more. Well Roddy wasn't feeling so good about himself now. "Being suspicious all the time sounds so- tiring though," he complained. '''Lina: '''at 8:51 PM Goro blinked a couple times. "Tiring? I don't--" He squinted. Was it tiring? He'd never really considered it that way. It was just... what you did. "Do you think breathing all the time is tiring, too?" '''Abby: '''at 8:54 PM Huh? What did that have to do with anything? Roddy looked at Goro, utterly lost. "Noooo? But why would that be tiring?" '''Lina: '''at 3:17 PM "It's... it's not, that's the point. It's just what you do. Well, I guess it's just what I do, in the case of being suspicious." He shrugged. '''Abby: '''at 3:29 PM "Yep. And no offense but I'd rather not be too much like you. I'm perfectly content with my level of stabby." '''Lina: '''at 3:37 PM "Hm." Goro frowned to himself, trying to think if there was a way someone could be as good at reading people as him without being as suspicious. Amari was pretty good at it. "Yeah, huh. I guess I could try to think of things that make me more suspicious than normal, tell you to look for those. It's all kinda second nature to me at this point, but I could figure it out." '''Abby: '''at 3:45 PM "Like offering valuable stuff at a ninety percent discount," Roddy muttered, half to himself. "I would appreciate it," he said. "I hate getting suckered." He sighed gloomily and idly patted Junior as it gave up begging and went back to digging in Roddy's bowl. "Five hundred gold," he muttered. '''Lina: '''at 7:54 PM "Sure. Alright." Goro scanned over the other customers in the dining room, trying to look for some examples. He made a few snap judgments, the kind of stuff he would call obvious, but then had to stop and ask himself--was it obvious, really? Huh. He was going to have to think a little differently than he usually did. Try looking at everything through Roddy's eyes, then his own, then see what was different. "I'm gonna quiz you," Goro said. He jerked his chin toward the rest of the dining room. "Take a look around. Tell me two things. Who in this place you think'd be most likely to gut you if you looked at 'em funny. And who you'd trust to watch your wallet, if you had to leave it unattended for a second. Don't fucking know why you'd do that, but imagine." '''Abby: '''at 9:40 PM Someone who would gut him and someone he'd trust to watch his wallet- discounting Goro anyway. Hmm. Roddy scanned the bar, sizing up the patrons. There was a mean looking tiefling in the other corner, glancing around like he(?) expected trouble. Had a sword close to hand too. "That guy," he said, discreetly gesturing towards her. "For the murdering. As for the wallet... hey is that Jonn or am I mistaken?" he asked, craning his neck to try and get a better look. Was a little too far for Roddy to be able to give a good guess. '''Lina: '''at 11:52 AM "Um," Goro said, slightly concerned, "it is. Are you telling me you'd trust Jonn to watch your wallet?" '''Abby: '''at 12:23 PM "Well. Yeah?" Roddy frowned. "Jonn's my brother he wouldn't steal from me." '''Lina: '''at 12:42 PM Hm. Jonn sure had a fucking vicious loyalty streak in him, Goro couldn't argue with that, but people's definitions of loyalty varied. Goro'd stolen from Amari a few times before--granted, it wasn't the kind of thing he'd do anymore. Eh. "Bigger problem is you latched onto Jonn as someone trustworthy in the first place," he said. "Why was that, anyway? What drew you to him?" '''Abby: '''at 4:40 PM "Uh," that was a long time ago. What had drawn Roddy to Jonn? "I guess how... he was nice to me? Came up and tried to talk to me and stuff. We ganged up on Dad. Even though at the time I still wasn't sure he wouldn't stab me over it. Was fun." Roddy grinned lightly. Good memories. '''Lina: '''at 5:01 PM "Huh. Yeah, you're real..." There had to be a nicer way to say this shit than you're weak. "You got a weakness for people being nice to you. Don't you? Giving you real attention, not just as a performer, but as a person." '''Abby: '''at 5:03 PM Roddy hunched his shoulders, fidgeting with his spoon. "Well. I-- I guess. Never thought of it that way but... Makes sense." '''Lina: '''at 5:08 PM "Hey. Hey, don't be embarrassed. Ain't nothing wrong with that, wanting some real kindness in your life." God fuckin' knew Goro craved the same thing. "Problem is just that the best scam artists, the best manipulators in general, they're good at reading people and knowing right away what they'll be weak to. They take a look at a guy like you, someone who's loud and easily offended--" He paused, to see if Roddy would take offense. '''Abby: '''at 5:10 PM Roddy sat up a little straighter and started to protest- and then realized that was exactly the point Goro was making. Okay. Accurate then. He clamped his jaw shut and waited for Goro to continue. '''Lina: '''at 5:17 PM "--and they know he's dying to have someone look at him, really look at him, and say, hey." Goro put on a sweet and tender smile. "Hey, buddy, I was really impressed with how you were playing that lute earlier. You got a great singing voice. Where'd you learn? Can I buy you a drink?" '''Abby: '''at 5:20 PM "Hey, hey you stop that," Roddy said, leaning back. Creepy how good Goro was at that. "I got it." '''Lina: '''at 5:26 PM "Just like that." He leaned back and snapped his fingers. "They gotcha. But, uh... well. I don't wanna say 'be suspicious anytime someone's nice to you,' 'cause that's fucking depressing, even though... that's how I do it. But yeah, that might not work for you. Hm. Maybe you could ask yourself, though--does this person seem like they want something, other than my company? Guys on the street selling shit, the answer's absolutely yes." '''Abby: '''at 5:32 PM Roddy settled a little, seeing Goro going back to- Goro. Good point though. He drummed his fingers, frowning and nodding. "Yeah. Makes sense. And that is less depressing." Kinda made him sad for Goro though. He was a mess. "Thanks, uh, for-- the advice." Gingerly he reached over to pat Goro's shoulder. "I appreciate it." '''Izzy: '''at 5:55 PM Jonn had seen Roddy come in looking huffy, but then he'd sat down with Goro, so Jonn just sort of lurked over by the bar where he'd been hanging out and watched them out of the corner of his eye. They seemed like they got along. That was ... good, definitely, and didn't make him feel weird or anything. Yeah, it was fine. After a little bit he wandered over anyway, with drinks so he'd have an excuse, but cider because he wasn't supposed to be drinking and he didn't think Roddy should, either. He ran through options of what to say as he picked his way through the crowd, wondering what'd convince them to let him stay. He didn't come up with anything, though, and just sat a frosty mug of apple cider in front of each of them and stated, "You don't have drinks." Yeah. That was ... factual. "What're you talkin' about?" '''Lina: '''at 6:02 PM "Oh, thanks," Goro said to the mug of cider, surprised. He glanced up at Jonn, then back to the cider, thinking briefly of poison. Was kind of rude to cast poison-detecting magic right in front of family, though. He could come up with some excuse, or be really discreet, but... nah, Jonn didn't have the look of someone who was trying to get away with murder at that precise moment. "Have a seat," Goro said. "I'm giving Roddy here tips on how to avoid being scammed." '''Abby: '''at 6:07 PM Roddy lit up when Jonn came over, already pushing out a seat for him. "Yeah. Sit down, you're good at that stuff too right? Bet you got some pointers too." '''Izzy: '''at 6:13 PM Huh. That'd been easy. It really won people over when you bought stuff for them. Plus, it was Roddy -- Roddy liked hanging out with him. He hesitated for a second before sitting down, scooting the chair closer to Roddy to give Goro more space. "Uhh." He pressed his lips against the cold rim of his mug for a moment, considering. "If people act like they're trying to help you for nothing they're usually not. Unless they're Hansel." '''Lina: '''at 6:14 PM Goro pointed at Jonn. "This guy's got it." '''Abby: '''at 6:18 PM Roddy had been called out for being easily offended once already. Not gonna add more fuel to the fire. He shot Goro a narrow-eyed look but let it go. "I seem to be a bit slower on the uptake," he said slowly. "I'll get there." '''Izzy: '''at 6:23 PM "That's okay," Jonn said automatically. "I'll help. Here, look at me and tell me if I'm full of shit." He turned to face Roddy and thought for a second about whether he should lie or tell the truth. Maybe he wasn't the best person for Roddy to practice on. He was tired, though, and this stuff could be hard. "One time me and Finch broke into the Prince's palace." '''Abby: '''at 6:32 PM "What really-- oh hang on." Roddy stopped to think. Jonn and Finch breaking into the palace... Wait a second. "Finch likes planning and hiding, and making you do the stuff," Roddy said slowly. "Plus he's got that- limp and everything." The palace would be harder to break into too-- but Jonn was better at that sort of thing than Roddy. Maybe daring enough to try it too. '''Lina: '''at 6:33 PM Goro broke into a grin, watching Roddy think through it. Atta boy. '''Izzy: '''at 6:35 PM Jonn grinned, bouncing his toes. "Yeah, there you go. You gotta, like, observe shit. How about -- one time I stole a magic javelin for Finch. True or nah?" '''Abby: '''at 6:40 PM Roddy thought for a second. He did know Finch had a javelin, hadn't seen any obvious sign of it being magic though. Could be though, and Jonn was a thief so-- "I believe it." '''Lina: '''at 6:40 PM Goro gave a slight shake of his head. '''Izzy: '''at 6:44 PM "Nope." That kind of pleased Jonn too, not because he wanted to trick Roddy, but because he was trying to make a point and shit. "You've probably seen that he has it, right? And --" he shrugged -- "I'm a thief, so fair guess, but I actually bought it for him, for Candlenight. So, y'know, it's not enough to just know the facts. People can use them and still lie to you. That's how the best tricks work." Then he faltered a bit at having probably let on a little too much, and hid the lower half of his face behind his mug again. '''Abby: '''at 6:49 PM Oh. Huh. Roddy deflated a little. He'd been doing really well... Guess it was a lesson best learned from people like Jonn and Goro though. Shady, sure, but they had Roddy's back. "Hey. Good advice though," he said, resting his hand on Jonn's back. "Now I won't get all full of myself thinkin' I know what I'm doing," he said wryly. '''Lina: '''at 6:51 PM "I keep telling him he needs to listen to his gut," Goro said to Jonn. "And--ah, never mind, you probably don't have a fuckin' clue what I'm talking about." He took a drink of his cider. '''Izzy: '''at 6:58 PM Jonn tilted his head and narrowed his eyes a little at Goro. The fuck did that mean? He wasn't sure if it was meant to be an insult, or what, so he just brushed it off, hunching his shoulders a bit and looking back to Roddy. "Yeah, I mean, you should never -- be positive." He glanced up towards the ceiling, thinking. "Even if you're pretty sure you're not being scammed, you might be, so you gotta figure out what you're gonna do if you are." He wasn't great at that part, but he could tell Roddy to do it. '''Abby: '''at 7:01 PM "Do you people really just walk around expecting people to scam you and plotting how to handle it when you do get scammed?" Roddy tilted his head back and sighed. "That sounds exhausting." '''Izzy: '''at 7:03 PM From behind his mug, Jonn mumbled, "I dunno, usually my plan when people fuck with me is to threaten'em with a knife. It doesn't have to be complicated." Usually the plan was to stab them with a knife, but he didn't think Roddy would like that, so he didn't say it. '''Abby: '''at 7:07 PM "Oh. Well. Guess that's a pretty simple plan." Roddy forgot for a minute that Jonn was also a stabbier type. Pretty sure Luci was the only one that wasn't, come to think of it. Wasn't sure what else to say so he just patted Jonn's back a couple times and took a swig from his cider. '''Izzy: '''at 9:07 PM Jonn felt awkward. They'd looked like they were having a nice conversation before he'd come over, and talked about lying, and threatening people with knives, and shit. Hansel wouldn't be happy with him. He didn't want Roddy to get scammed by people, though. Maybe he'd just done it wrong. He should've been quiet and listened to how Goro did it. It was a little late for that, now, though. He'd just keep it in mind for later. "I'm gonna -- go check on Dad." That was a good excuse. Bad segue, though. Fuck. He pushed himself up, setting his cider down to leave it behind, and turned to go without saying anything else. '''Abby: '''at 9:16 PM "Hey, I'll come with," Roddy said, picking up Junior and plopping it on his shoulders. "Uh, seeya," he said to Goro, and then followed after Jonn. This had been good. Learned a few tricks, learned not to get overconfident with 'em either. And for now- maybe Dad'd be up to showing Roddy a couple of the tricks he'd suddenly picked up! '''Lina: '''at 3:57 PM Huh. Fuckin' Jonn, man. Little weirdo. Goro didn't think he'd ever known somebody who was so fucking desperate to do the right thing, and yet utterly clueless about what the right thing would be. Goro usually knew what the right thing was; he just didn't give a shit half the time. Good thing Jonn had chosen Hansel to be his moral center, he guessed. There sure as hell were worse people you could be dependent on the approval of. Roddy, though. Kid was figuring shit out. Goro was proud of him. Like having a goddamn protege, right there. He stayed in his seat for a while, finishing up his stew and cider, just thinking. end '''Izzy: '''at 5:08 PM Title: Scammed. Summary: Roddy gets scammed and goes to rant about it to Goro. Goro gives him a lesson in telling people are lying or telling the truth. Jonn shows up to help. Category:Text Roleplay